Headlight for locomotives.



No. 780,846. 1 PATBNTED JAN. 24, 1905. A. N. WERTS.

HEADLIGHT FOR LOCOMOTIVES. APPLICATION FILED 13110.29, 190a. mmnwnn0011a. 1904.

2 SHEETS-PEER l.

No. 780,846. PATBNTED JAN. 24;, 1905.

- A. N. WERTS.

, HEADLIGHT FORHLOGOMOTLVES. APPLICATION PILEDDBO. 2B, 1903. RENEWEDOUT. 18, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

- be a full, clear, and exact description of the UNITED STATES PatentedJanuary 24:, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

HEADLIGHT FOR LOCOMOTIVES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. '78Q,846, dated January24, 1905. Application filed December 29, 1903. Renewed October 18, 1904.Serial No. 229,027.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, ALBERT N. WERTs,a citizen of the United States,residing at Mendon, in the county of Mercer and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Headlights forLocomotives, &c.; and I do hereby declare the following to invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

My invention relates to headlights for locomotives, street-cars, andother vehicles; and it consists of certain novel features of combinationand construction of parts, the preferred form whereof will behereinafter clearly set forth, and pointed .out in the claims.

The prime object of my invention, among others, is to provide areliably-eflicient attachment for locomotives and the like and properconnections extending to the headlight carried on the front portion ofthe locomotive or railway-car whereby the position of the headlight willbe changed to conform to any curvature in the trackway, thereby enablingthe engineer or motorman to observe the trackway 'for a considerabledistance ahead of him, and thus avoid running into any obstruction, andat the same time enable the at tendant upon an approaching train or'apersonwalking upon the trackway to clearly see the light, and therebyavoid the danger.

Other objects and advantages will be hereinafter clearly set forth,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are made a partof this application, and in which Figure 1 shows a side elevation of aportion of a railway-car provided with my improved headlight andcontrolling appliance therefor. Fig. 2 shows a top plan view, partly insection, illustrating the car body and platform removed from thecarrying-trucks. Fig. 3 is a perspective detail of the anchoring meansemployed to connectthe headlight-controlling appliance to the frame ofthe car-truck. Fig. 4 is a side view of the headlight and a contiguousportion of the car in section. Fig. 5

is a front view of the part illustrated in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 isa detailView showing means for locking the headlight-supporting shaft againstmovement. Fig. 7 shows a varied form of arrangement adapting myappliance for use upon locomotives.

The various details of my invention and accessories deemed necessary toillustrate a practical application thereof to use will for conveniencebe referred to by numerals, the

same numeral applying to a corresponding part throughout the severalviews. I Referring to the numerals on the drawings, 1 indicates aportion of the front platform of a railway-car, while 2, 3, and 4designate brackets whereby the headlight-supporting shaft 5 may berotatably supported, suitable collars 6, 7, and 8 being provided toprevent longitudinal movement of said shaft, said 001- lars beingrigidlysecured to the shaft or connected thereto by a set-screw 9, ifpreferred. I prefer to provide the headlight-supporting shaft 5 with asuitable form of headlightholder rigidly secured to theupper end thereof. In the present instance I have shown a headlight-holder comprisingthe socket 10, designed to receive the upper end of the shaft 5, saidsocket having the outwardly and upwardly directed arms 11 and thecross-bar 12, the latter being designed to engage the hooklike anchoringmember 13, carried by the rear side of the headlight 14, and it istherefore obvious that the headlight may be very quickly removed fromits position by lifting the bracket 13 out of engagement with thecross-bar 12. It is further obvious that other suitable means may beemployed for enabling the headlight to be connected with the shaft 5,whereby it will be turned with said shaft,

as will be hereinafter set forth.

To the lower end of the shaft 5, as will be more clearly seen in Fig. 5,I rigidly connect the cross-head 15, provided at each end with asuitable terminal 16, having an apertured ear or clip 17, whereby thecable 18 may be connected thereto, said cable being extended rearwardlyunder the platform of the car and connected to the clip 19, which ispreferably formed as illustrated in Fig. 3, so as to have theanchoring-lip 20 and a set-screw 21, whereby it may be reliablyconnected to a portion of the frame 22 of the car-truck. The cables 18pass into engagement with the pulleywheels 23, which are provided withthe holding-bracket 2 1, as is common, said holdingbracket beingprovided with the cushioningspring 25, the free end of which is attachedin any preferred way to a contiguous part of the car or to a dependingbracket carried by the under side of the platform or car section. Theobject of the springs 25 is to always keep the ropes or cables 18 in ataut condition and also to compensate for a rocking movement of the carincident to passing over any rough portion of the road.

It will thus be seen that I have placed the headlight-supporting shaft 5in direct communication with the forward trucks of the car, and ittherefore follows that any movement of the truck in following thecurvature of the track will cause the shaft 5 to be instantaneouslyacted upon and partially rotated, thereby insuring that the headlightsupported by said shaft will be instantly turned at the first movementof the trucks in following a'curve. The result will be that theheadlight will automatically move so as to direct the light upon thetrackway ahead of the car, so that the light will always besubstantially in the same position as it would be turned if heldmanually by the person who wished to look for any obstruction andconsequent danger.

In Fig. 7 I have illustrated how my headlight automatic controllingappliance may be adapted for use upon a locomotive, wherein it will beobserved that the numeral 26 designates the forward or movable truck ofa locomotive, suitable clips 19 being provided for connecting the endsof the cable 18 thereto. The cables 18 are thence directed rearwardlythrough the pulleys 23, attached to a contiguous part of the locomotive,and thence extended forwardly through similar pulleys also connected toa contiguous part of the locomotive, and the forward ends thereof areattached to the apertured ears 17, carried upon each end of thecontrolling-bar 15, said bar, as herein described, being rigidlyconnected to the lower end of the controlling-shaft 5, which extendsforward to a suitable point and carries on its upper end the headlight.

If for any reason it should be desirable to lock the shaft 5 againstrotation, as would be desirable ifone of the cables 18 should becomebroken or disconnected, I have provided means for securely and instantlylocking said shaft in such position as will result in holding theheadlight directed forward in the same plane extending through thecarbody. Such means consists of the collar 27, secured rigidly to theshaft 5, as by the setscrew 28, and having apertured ears 29, betweenwhich I pivotally secure the end of the detent 30, the free end of whichis designed to move downward between the cars 31, carried by theanchoring-plate 32, said plate being bolted to the floor of the platformat a proper point, as will be readily understood. The pivoted end of thedetent or locking-lever 30 is provided with two recesses, as indicatedby the numerals 33 and 34, the recess 33 being designed to engage thetooth 35 upon the end of the locking-spring 36 when the lever iselevated. When, however, the lever or looking-detent 30 is lowered sothat the free end thereof will rest between the cars 31, the tooth 35will enter the recess 34:, as is fully illustrated in Fig. 6. Obviouslythe spring 36 will yield and permit the lever to be forced upward, whenthe detent will ride out of the recess 34 and drop into the recess 33,thereby holding the lever elevated and out of the way of the motorman,and thereby leave the shaft 5 under the full control of the movements ofthe forward truck of the car and insuring that the headlight will beautomatically directed to follow any curvature of the trackway.

It is thought that the construction and manner of using my improvedautomatic controller for headlights have thus been made fully apparent,and further description is therefore deemed unnecessary.

\Vhile I have described the preferred combination and construction ofparts, Idesirc to comprehend such equivalents and substitutes as may beregarded as fairly falling within the scope of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an automatic controller for headlights, the combination with acar-body and trucks therefor of a rotating shaft having a headlight-holder at the upper end thereof and a a cross head 15 at its lowerend, suitable brackets to secure said shaft to the front end, of thecar-bod y, means to hold said shaft stationary when desired, a terminal16 at each end of said cross head, apertured cars 17 formed integraltherewith, cables 18 having one of their ends secured to said ears,clips 19 having anchoring-lips 20 and set-screws 21 adapted to securesaid clips to a portion of the car-truck, the opposite ends of saidcables being secured to said clips, pulley-wheels 23 located midwaybetween said truck and crosshead, around which said cables take andcoiled springs 25 attached to and adapted to yieldingly secure saidpulleys to a contiguous part of the car-bod y, whereby the truck mayfreely turn when the shaft is held stationary, as set forth.

2. In a controller for headlights, the combinationwith a rotatablesupporting-shaft, of a collar 27 rigidly secured to said shaft, saidcollar having ears 29, a detent pivotally secured between said ears, ananchoring-plate 32 having suitable ears adapted to receive the free endof said detent, and a locking-spring having a tooth adapted to engagerecesses in to this specification in the presence of tWo subthelocking-lever 30 and hold said lever into or scribing Witnesses. out ofengagement with the ears upon the ani choring-plate 32, whereby thesupporting- 5 shaft will be held stationary or left free to ro-Witnesses:

tate, as set forth. L. C. ANDERSON,

In testimony whereof I have signed my name Gr. W. SHREVE.

ALBERT N. WERTS.

